REALITY CHECK: Santorum’s spin is increasingly at odds with the cold, hard math. A memo being pushed by the campaign to justify staying in the race assumes the candidate will get delegates out of Florida and Arizona. It’s just not going to happen.

Story Continued Below

FLORIDA PARTY BLASTS SANTORUM’S “DELUSIONAL FANTASY”: The Tampa Bay Times’ Adam Smith reports that “Florida GOP spokesman Brian Hughes said it's ‘preposterous’ to think Florida will change … ‘simply so Rick Santorum can find some justification for his losing campaign.’… He called the theory a ‘delusional fantasy’ and said it amounted to a campaign trying to impose its will on a state party that had already worked through and resolved the issue. Separately, Arizona’s GOP also said they’re not going to change. The post includes the campaign’s memo: http://bit.ly/HrQzjN.

RNC QUASHES TEXAS PIPE DREAM: “Santorum is banking on a fast-moving, behind-the-scenes effort to change the Texas primary into a winner-take-all affair, sending all 152 eligible delegates to the state’s top vote-getter [on May 29]. Weston Martinez, a Santorum supporter and Texas Republican Party official, said [Thursday] that he has lined up enough votes to call the party’s executive committee into an emergency session to consider the change,” the Austin American-Statesman reports. BUT,the story adds, “A spokesman for the Republican National Committee saidTexas would need — but not receive — a waiver from the national partyto change its primary. ‘There is no basis for a waiver. Texas will remain a proportional state,’ spokesman Sean Spicer said via Twitter.” http://bit.ly/HW1sMj

MILESTONE – ROMNEY HAS AS MANY DELEGATES AS MCCAIN DID WHEN HE DROPPED OUT IN 2008: “Romney has built a delegate lead nearly as big as the one held by the ultimate GOP nominee John McCain when Romney decided to end his presidential bid in 2008,” The Huffington Post’s Mark Blumenthal (formerly of pollster.com) notes. “Romney has taken longer to reach the same rough delegate share as McCain achieved by early February 2008 largely because the Republican primary and caucus calendar is far more back loaded this year…Romney's current delegate wins are in some ways more broad-based because McCain picked up a major chunk of his post-Super Tuesday total … in California, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.” Mark’s post: http://huff.to/IcXutV.

SUPPORTERS REALISTIC – A MEETING ABOUT NEXT STEPS: “Santorum huddled in Virginia Thursday with a group of longtime conservative activists in what several participants described as a late attempt to rally the right and block Romney’s nomination from becoming inevitable,” Alex Burns, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin report. “The former Pennsylvania senator met in Tysons Corner with a crew of GOP fixtures, led by Reagan-era activists Richard Viguerie and Rebecca Hagelin, to discuss a path forward. The Santorum campaign confirmed that the activists had reached out to request time with him… Asked whether he would characterize the mood as one of optimism or pessimism, former Family Research Council chief Gary Bauer answered: ‘ Realism.’” http://bit.ly/Hj0CK6

THE PATH FORWARD – Every major news organization’s lead Santorum story is about yesterday’s meeting. A GOP source tells Time’s Mark Halperin that “Santorum and Gingrich have met face-to-face at least twice in the last few weeks and have also had some VERY long phone calls recently”: http://ti.me/HjbkjI. The New York Times’ Trip Gabriel and Katharine Seelye focus on the Santorum camp’s hopes that Gingrich drops out (A16): http://nyti.ms/HtZ4HV. Reuters’ Sam Youngman: http://reut.rs/HVW4su. CBS’ Caroline Horn: http://cbsn.ws/Hj9orp.

** As a watchdog site scrutinizes Jon Bruning’s Twitter account, Haley Barbour fills in for Ed Gillespie and the war over women escalates, here’s POLITICO’s Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

WISCONSIN PREDICTION CONTEST – STERN, ROSNER, BIZZARO WIN: Forty-four readers correctly guessed the top four finishers in Wisconsin’s primary. Eric Stern nailed it, predicting the final outcome more accurately than the exit polls and getting the second, third and fourth place finishers spot on. Eric is a political science major at Yale. The Pittsburgh native is an officer in the Yale Democrats, a former intern for Sen. Bob Casey and plays on the club squash team. Second place goes to Brandon Rosner. Close behind in third is Tom Bizzaro, a vice president at FDB in Indianapolis. I was struck tabulating the results by how much bigger folks expected the margin of victory to be for Romney and amazed at the number of people who still thought Gingrich would finish above Paul. Thanks to everyone who participated. Let’s do another one for Pennsylvania. Here’s a PDF with the ranking of the top 44 finishers: http://bit.ly/HtO4u6.

ROMNEY – FOUR TALKERS:

SECRET SERVICE UPS PROTECTION: The Associated Press reports that the “agents protecting him have started to implement additional measures now that he's the presumptive Republican nominee.” http://yhoo.it/HPE0Ov

ETHICS EXEMPTION LETS HIM LIMIT DISCLOSURE OF BAIN HOLDINGS: The Washington Post’s Tom Hamburger reports, “Romney has taken advantage of an obscure exception in federal ethics laws to avoid disclosing the nature and extent of his holdings. By offering a limited description of his assets, Romney has made it difficult to know precisely where his money is invested, whether it is offshore or in controversial companies, or whether those holdings could affect his policies or present any conflicts of interest. In 48 accounts from Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded in Boston, Romney declined on his financial disclosure forms to identify the underlying assets…because Romney is covered by a confidentiality agreement with the company.” The Obama campaign cited this story last night in reiterating its call for him to release more tax returns: http://wapo.st/HPllm3.

ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW AUTHOR PRAISES ROMNEY POLICY: “Romney’s tough stance on illegal immigration during the 2012 campaign has won him the support of an influential conservative voice on the issue -- Russell Pearce, the former Arizona state Senate president and author of the state’s controversial anti-illegal immigration law,” the Washington Post’s Felicia Sonmez reports. “In an interview Tuesday night after a tea party dinner in Gilbert, Ariz., Pearce – who, in part due to his authorship of the SB 1070 law, late last year became the first Arizona legislator to be ousted from office in a recall election – described the former Massachusetts governor’s stand on illegal immigration as the same as his own. ‘His immigration policy is identical to mine,’ Pearce said. ‘Attrition by enforcement. It’s identical to mine – enforce the laws. We have good laws, just enforce them.’” http://wapo.st/HkMyjT

IS THE RNC TIPPING THE SCALES FOR MITT?: “Critics, including supporters of Santorum and Gingrich and even neutral Republicans, argue that the national party took steps that helped tilt the contest toward Mitt Romney — an allegation that the RNC rejects but is taking very seriously,” Ken Vogel writes in the story leading our site this morning. “The list of specific grievances ranges from issues that even the party acknowledges are legitimate, to those that they dismiss as desperate fixations from Romney’s flailing rivals. For example, the committee agrees that some states that went for Romney jumped the line in the primary schedule, a violation of party rules. But RNC defenders shrug off other complaints, like that they undercut Santorum and Gingrich by formatting a delegate tracking list to pad Romney’s tally, by forming a fundraising alliance this week with Romney and by highlighting a rule that would block an unlikely path to the nomination for Gingrich.” The New York Times’ Nicholas Confessore lands on A1, meanwhile, with a story about the RNC’s improved fundraising fortunes: http://nyti.ms/Hli41B. Ken’s piece: http://politi.co/HdUlMe.

THE NARRATIVE – PENNSYLVANIA SLIPPING AWAY FROM SANTORUM:

ONE INFLUENTIAL REPUBLICAN who has talked to Santorum in recent days tells the Washington Post: “ He is very, very worried about losing Pennsylvania. He is trying to find a way to throw a very long pass that could change the game.” http://wapo.st/I0uIOE

NATIONAL REVIEW SAYS SUBURBS GIVE ROMNEY EDGE: “In the ‘collar counties’ around Philadelphia — Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery — Republican voters tend to support mild-mannered conservatives who are focused on economic and fiscal issues,” Robert Costa writes in a story that posted overnight. “Three Republican congressmen with flinty, independent personalities — Mike Fitzpatrick, Pat Meehan, and Jim Gerlach — represent districts in this critical slice of the Keystone State. While Santorum has the support of a few House members elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Romney’s identification with this southeastern trio, in terms of his politics and sensibility, will be a bigger factor…Pennsylvania’s conservative movement, for the most part, is not based on evangelical activism but on anti-government anger. Its most notable achievements have been a select few tea-party challenges, mostly on the state-senate level, directed at Harrisburg’s pork barons. The pro-life cause, though very influential, is not at the heart of its efforts.” http://bit.ly/HPwG5q

SANTO GOING ALL IN – HOPING TO RUN UP SCORE IN ALLEGHENY COUNTY: “Much of Santorum’s senior staff is relocating to Pennsylvania to focus on winning there, according to chief strategist John Brabender,” POLITICO’s Charlie Mahtesian (PA native) and Emily Schultheis (U. Penn alum) report. “Romney, too, is moving resources to the state: his campaign opened a field office in Harrisburg last week, and has four paid staffers on the ground. For Santorum, the strategy is to concentrate on turning out voters in Pittsburgh’s Allegheny County — where he once lived and represented a congressional district before winning election to the Senate in 1994 — and in the socially conservative central and northern parts of the state…Bob Asher, an influential Republican National Committeeman from southeastern Pennsylvania who’s backing Romney, said he expects Romney will win at least 50 percent of the state’s delegates and has a good shot at winning the popular vote, too.” http://politi.co/I400qk

HOW BADLY IS HE HURTING HIS 2016 CHANCES? The Daily’s Dan Hirschhorn (another Pennsylvania native) reports that people close to Santorum don’t think he’s helping himself with this last stand. “It could be a major embarrassment that consigns him to irrelevance just as he's revived his political stock through a White House bid that went further than expected. That has even sympathetic conservatives openly encouraging him to exit the race before the April 24 primary, while establishment Republicans backing Romney step up their back-channel efforts to nudge him from the race… Added a longtime friend and ally: ‘This is what I was so worried about. He’s really screwing his own life up now.’” http://bit.ly/HPjYnq

SANTORUM COMMITS TO CAMPAIGN IN PROPORTIONAL NEW YORK: “It changed the rules last year to adopt a hybrid system, in which two delegates will be awarded to the winner in each of the state’s 29 Congressional districts. Another 34 delegates will go en masse to any candidate who wins more than 50 percent of the vote statewide; if no candidate wins an absolute majority, those delegates are distributed proportionally among the candidates who win at least 20 percent of the vote,” per today’s New York Times. “Mr. Santorum and Newt Gingrich have already committed to attending the state party’s annual gala dinner in Manhattan the week before the primary… Michael Rendino, who made an unsuccessful bid for a State Assembly seat in the Bronx in 2010 and is now organizing Mr. Santorum’s efforts in New York, said the campaign intended to open multiple offices in the state within days.” http://nyti.ms/HtI8Bf

PENNSYLVANIA IS STILL HIS FUNDRAISING BASE: “Unlike many of his presidential rivals, there isn’t a single Manhattan or California locale that breaks Santorum’s list of top 10 fundraising ZIP codes,” Zack Abrahamson discovered. He’s gotten a lot from the Philly suburbs, but it’s still less than Romney. http://politi.co/HmylQ3

ROMNEY MANAGES EXPECTATIONS: “Gingrich won his home state, I won mine. I think people expect [Santorum] to win his home state,” Romney said during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania yesterday. “If I could win the others [voting on April 24] and pick up some delegates here, it would give me an even stronger lead.” Jake Sherman reports that “in nearly the next breath, Romney declared that he’d win Pennsylvania — an important swing state — in the general election.” http://politi.co/I61eTi

REMEMBER HIM? – RON PAUL HAS MISSED 92% OF HOUSE VOTES THIS YEAR: “In 2012, Paul has missed 136 votes while casting only 15,” The Hill’s Eryn Dion reports. “According to GovTrack.us, Paul has missed 91.8 percent of roll call votes for the first quarter of 2012, the highest in his career. He went long stretches this year without setting foot on the House floor and then would show up to vote on a high-profile bill before jetting off again. During the longest of these stretches, from Jan. 19 to Feb. 27, he was absent for 69 votes in a row. Paul last voted on March 29 on two amendments to Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget. He missed the final vote on passage, however…The congressman has announced he will not seek a 10th term.” http://bit.ly/HVQztR

NEWT DEATH WATCH, DAY 23—HEALTH CARE THINK TANK FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY: “The Center for Health Transformation, which has offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and St. Louis, plans to liquidate its assets, according to a filing Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta,” per the Atlanta Business Chronicle. “The think tank listed estimated liabilities of $1 million to $10 million dollars and 50 to 90 creditors.” http://bit.ly/HPl9mQ

FRUSTRATION AT OBAMA SUPER PAC’S FAILURE TO LAUNCH: “Obama campaign staffers worry conservative groups will swamp the airwaves with negative ads that might go unanswered without a robust super PAC war chest,” Peter Nicholas and Carol Lee write in a story on A1 of today’s Wall Street Journal. Co-founder Bill “Burton came to the job with a background in media relations, not fundraising…The lingering GOP nomination fight—and no Democratic primary—removed a sense of urgency, helping damp donations…” Now they’ve brought on more experienced fundraisers. “Hoping to raise money and enthusiasm, Priorities USA tells prospects the pro-Romney super PAC will raise $250 million…Some Obama campaign aides say privately that Mr. Burton lacks the stature of others who have raised large sums for presidential campaigns—Terry McAuliffe, a friend and golf buddy of Mr. Clinton's, for example…But they are restrained from taking action by laws that forbid campaigns from coordinating with super PACs…Mr. Burton now spends hours each day talking to donors and reporters. He flies around the U.S. meeting potential contributors, often with [Paul] Begala.” http://on.wsj.com/Hj4W7B

OBAMA OFFICIALS QUESTIONED HIRING OF “JEWBAG” STAFFER: “The staffer for DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz who posted the controversial 'Jewbag' photo on her Facebook page in 2006 is no anonymous aide -- but the daughter of Mark and Nancy Gilbert, two major Florida donors who have raised more than $500,000 for the Obama campaign,” reports Glenn Thrush. “Danielle ‘Dani’ Gilbert, according to party sources, was tapped by Wasserman Schultz to serve as a liaison to the Jewish community, even though party officials and people close to Obama told her that more senior Democrats were already handling those responsibilities. Wasserman Schultz has thus far refused to fire or discipline Gilbert, whose gallery of candid photos and personal commentary has since been removed from her public Facebook page.” Here’s the Free Beacon post that really put the six-year-old Facebook page into the bloodstream: http://bit.ly/HmUZb8. Thrush’s item: http://politi.co/I1rvyL.

DEM CONVENTION ORGANIZERS SKIRT THEIR OWN RULES: Corporations and lobbyists are barred from contributing money to this year's Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. “But even as Democrats tout the three-day event in September as a populist gathering, organizers have found ways to skirt the rules and give corporations and lobbyists a presence at the nominating convention,” Matea Gold reports in today’s Los Angeles Times. “Despite the ban on corporate money, for example, convention officials have encouraged corporate executives to write personal checks, according to sources familiar with the fundraising. And they have suggested that corporations can participate by donating goods and services to the convention, and by giving up to $100,000 through a corporate foundation. They have also quietly explained to lobbyists that while they can't make contributions, they can help raise money from their clients — by soliciting personal checks from executives or in-kind contributions from corporations. Lobbyists who bundle high sums will get perks like premium credentials and hotel rooms.” http://lat.ms/IbX2My

CHICAGO HITS MITT: A 90-second web video out yesterday afternoon juxtaposes footage of Romney accusing the president of not saying things (like addressing the deficit in the State of the Union) against footage of the president saying those things. http://bit.ly/HrtvBI

PEGGY NOONAN sums up Obama’s reelection strategy after watching his Tuesday speech: “He is not reserving fire, not launching small forays early in the battle. The strategy will be heavy and ceaseless bombardment.” http://on.wsj.com/HdRmTZ

THE WAR OVER WOMEN –

DEMS POUNCE ON PRIEBUS “CATERPILLARS” COMPARISON: RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told Bloomberg that his party isn't waging a "war on women," just as there’s not a "war on caterpillars." The quote: "If the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars, and mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we have problems with caterpillars.” This gave Dems and women’s groups an opening to highlight position the GOP holds that frustrate women. The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty and David Nakamura review the ensuing back-and-forth: http://wapo.st/Hlax2R.

AMERICANS UNITED FOR CHANGE has posted a 75-second web video that puts women’s faces on caterpillars’ bodies to complain about things Republicans have done that they see as anti-women. “Get out of your cocoon, guys,” one of the female speakers says. Watch: http://bit.ly/I5z62y.

WOOING WOMEN – WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS DOING TODAY: “In the morning, the President will deliver remarks to highlight ways the Administration has helped create economic security for women at the White House Forum on Women and the Economy,” per the White House Daily Guidance. “As part of the Forum, the White House will release a report on women and the economy which will examine the ways in which the Administration has worked to ensure women's economic security and create jobs for women, through all stages of life…The President’s remarks in the South Court Auditorium are open press and the Forum will be live-streamed on www.whitehouse.gov/live. In the evening, the President and the First Lady will mark the beginning of Passover with a Seder at the White House with friends and staff. The Seder in the Old Family Dining Room is closed press.”

MITT ON ANN’S ROLE, per an interview he gave NewsMax: She would “talk about what we would bring to this country, how we would endeavor to help people who are hurting and having a hard time, and how we would bring a new degree of fairness to so many who are being left behind.” A colleague notes that this sounds like Obama’s core message: http://bit.ly/Hdvvff.

MURKOWSKI FRUSTRATED BY GOP RHETORIC: The Homer (Alaska) News reported Wednesday on a lunch that Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke at. One paragraph jumps out. “From her perspective as a Republican, Murkowski said she can't understand why some in her party have raised reproductive rights as an issue. ‘It makes no sense to make this attack on women,’ she said. ‘ If you don't feel this is an attack, you need to go home and talk to your wife and your daughters.’” http://bit.ly/HTXc11

ON LETTING WOMEN JOIN THE AUGUSTA GOLF CLUB –

OBAMA: "His personal opinion is women should be admitted," Jay Carney said during the press briefing. "Obviously it is up to the club to decide, but his personal opinion is women should be admitted to the club." http://bit.ly/HmITP8

SANTORUM: "I encourage Augusta to accept women members, but I recognize their right as a private organization to decide for themselves," he said in a statement e-mailed to reporters. http://bit.ly/HdIhdK

ROMNEY: "I am not a member of Augusta. I don't know if I would qualify. My golf game is not that good," Romney told reporters after an energy-themed event in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. "Certainly if I were a member, if I could run Augusta, which isn't likely to happen, of course I'd have women into Augusta." http://bit.ly/IcshdF

NEBRASKA SENATE – BRUNING FOLLOWS TEENS ON TWITTER TOO: “U.S. Senate candidate Jon Bruning accused his opponent Don Stenberg of trying to follow his 14-year-old daughter on Twitter — saying that was ‘weird’ and ‘creepy’ — but a review of his own Twitter account shows Bruning follows at least two teenage girls and a half dozen female college students… [including] a teenage friend of his daughter’s and one 16-year-old girl who describes herself as a homeschooled girl,” Nebraska Watchdog reports. Bruning’s press secretary said the girls were probably already following the AG when he followed them. http://bit.ly/HlgM6I

INDIANA SENATE – LUGAR UP 7 BUT WAY UNDER 50: “A new poll shows Sen. Richard Lugar clinging to a 42 percent to 35 percent lead over his Republican challenger, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock,” per the Indianapolis Star’s Mary Beth Schneider. “The Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground Poll, by Republican pollster Christine Matthews and Democratic pollster Fred Yang, was released Thursday. It was conducted March 26-28 of 503 likely Republican primary voters and March 26-27 of 503 likely Indiana general election voters. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.5 percentage points. In her analysis, Matthews, who runs Bellwether Research and whose clients have included Gov. Mitch Daniels, said it shows Lugar ‘is in a tough battle to win the May 8 Republican primary . . . At 42 percent, his ballot support is far enough below the 50 percent mark to be of significant concern.’” http://indy.st/HmBAGI

WISCONSIN RECALL –

GOP RECRUITS DECOY DEMS: “The state GOP has lined up six fake Democrats to run in upcoming recall elections targeting Gov. Scott Walker and five other Republicans,” per Madison’s Wisconsin State Journal. GOP spokesman Ben “Sparks says running what he called ‘recall protest candidates’ guarantees a clear primary date and ensures no Republicans will face a general election that day, when Democrats likely will turn out in huge numbers to select a gubernatorial challenger. He says the party doesn't plan to spend any money on their campaigns.” http://bit.ly/Hl1K0p

AT FORUM, DEM CANDIDATES TARGET THE RICH: “All four Democrats vying to take on Republican Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin's gubernatorial recall election June 5 say the wealthy must be made to ‘pay their fair share’ in taxes to return equity to the state,” per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, Secretary of State Doug La Follette and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout shared a stage Thursday night and all agreed that when the theory of ‘trickle-down’ economics gets put into practice the only people who get wet are the rich. ‘We made the wealthy pay,’ Barrett told hundreds of people packed into a banquet hall at American Serb Hall, recalling his time in the Clinton Congress when the economy was booming and the government amassed a budget surplus.” http://bit.ly/HPxbMV

OHIO GOP CIVIL WAR – KASICH TRYING TO MOVE ON: “On Wednesday, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine announced his resignation effective on April 13, ending a long, ugly, public fight for control of the party with the governor and his allies. But Kasich made no mention of it in a speech at a Ross County Republican Party fundraiser tonight, and in a pre-speech interview he made it clear that he didn’t want to talk about the change of power within the Ohio Republican Party. ‘I’ve got a lot of priorities, and that’s not one of my highest,’ Kasich said,” according to The Columbus Dispatch. “It was as though no one at the fundraiser wanted to discuss the intraparty fight…Three prominent Republicans, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus all thanked DeWine for his work.” http://bit.ly/IcNxQI

BARBOUR JOINS RESURGENT REPUBLIC ON AS HONORARY CHAIR: “ResurgentRepublic, a center-right research organization dedicated to shaping the debate over the proper role of government, announced today that former Governor Haley Barbour will serve as Honorary Chairman during Ed Gillespie’s leave of absence,” per a forthcoming release, obtained by Jonathan Martin. Gillespie will take a leave of absence effective immediately to become a Senior Advisor to the Romney for President campaign. In 2009 he and pollster Whit Ayres co-founded the group – which has quickly made a name for itself.

ONE OF THE NINE SIGNS YOUR CAMPAIGN IS OVER, according to ABC, is constantly comparing yourself to Ronald Reagan in 1976: http://abcn.ws/I5iQP9.

CATERPILLARS actually are being targeted by the GOP. The Atlantic’s Molly Ball writes on Republican efforts to bring back DDT and notes that Tom DeLay’s background was as an exterminator: http://bit.ly/Hl1Yon.

MATT DAMON will star in an anti-fracking movie that’s set to begin filming later this month: http://politi.co/HBoMtj.

CODA – QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I have no clue how to tweet; I still don't understand the mechanics of it. It's a thing of the future.” – Martin O'Rourke, a politically connected PR man (!) in Philadelphia who has big communications contracts with the city controller and the Philadelphia Parking Authority http://bit.ly/HiGY0S

About The Author

James Hohmann is a reporter for POLITICO Pro.

He covered the 2012 presidential campaign from start to finish, authoring the daily Morning Score tipsheet for nearly two years as he reported from 23 states over the course of the primaries and general election. Through the fall, he traveled with Mitt Romney.

Hohmann spent 2010 chronicling the Republican Party’s drive to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

He arrived from The Washington Post at the end of 2009. Previously he wrote for the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau, the Dallas Morning News and The San Jose Mercury News.

An honors graduate of Stanford University, Hohmann studied American political history. He served as editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily and wrote an award-winning thesis about the 1976 Republican primaries and the political ascendancy of Ronald Reagan.